If you have watched any YouTube videos since September 2019, you have seen many videos on the new FTC law COPPA in your video feed or recommendations. As of January 1, 2020, the YouTube platform as we know it today will be changed forever.
So much hype and disinformation has been given about this topic we wondered how this new law would affect A Reel Cinema @ Home’s website and new YouTube channel. Some YouTubers are taking the law very seriously. Other YouTubers are just hoping and praying no one at the FTC will notice their channel. The FTC announcement linked here is dead serious. Websites and YouTubers need to take the new FTC COPPA law seriously as the fines to content creators can range up to $42,000 per video. To truly understand the FTC’s strong stance against YouTube watch the press conference at the FTC Headquarters on this topic.
When reading the COPPA laws online, we found extremely vague language in the law that could potentially land us in trouble. We have come up with a plan to navigate the COPPA laws starting January 1, 2020 in order to prevent any fines from the FTC. But first a little bit more about the COPPA law. Then we will tell you how we plan to create content for our website and YouTube channel to remain in compliance with COPPA laws.
Thanks to the YouTuber and social media attorney Ian Corzine for helping A Reel Cinema @ Home understand what COPPA means and the little rules that can get us in trouble if we don’t take preventative measures. Here is a link to Mr. Corzine’s video, “What YouTube Is Not Telling You About COPPA.” The video is extremely informative and from a social media attorney’s perspective. The knowledge he drops in the video is priceless.
The main points in Mr. Corzine’s video is the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted a new law called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC doesn’t want children (defined as under 13 years of age) to give their personal information on websites. Moreover, the FTC doesn’t want websites or YouTube to collect information or market directly to children. Online social media, kids websites, and kids platforms should never collect a child’s information without the express consent of their parents. The biggest threat to this law is website cookies. Cookies are files that are sent by website tracking algorithms that contain a website visitor’s personal information and browsing history.
Several child advocacy groups filed a complaint against YouTube for being in violation of the FTC COPPA law. YouTube settled the complaint with the FTC resulting in a huge fine of a $170 million. In addition to the monetary penalty, the proposed settlement requires Google and YouTube to develop, implement, and maintain a system that requires channel owners to identify their child-directed content on the YouTube platform so that YouTube can ensure it is complying with COPPA.
In addition, YouTube must notify channel owners that their child-directed content may be subject to COPPA regulations. YouTube must provide annual training about complying with COPPA to employees who deal with YouTube channel owners. The settlement also prohibits Google and YouTube from violating the COPPA law again, requires YouTube to provide notice about their data collection practices, and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children.
After the settlement and fine, YouTube passed the buck of figuring out what should be done and how content should be regulated going forward to creators. YouTube channels that create content specifically aimed at kids or content that could be deemed kid friendly is the FTC target. With the rules around the “child appealing” content so vague, we could inadvertently cause a problem for our website and channel.
As you can tell A Reel Cinema @ Home is taking the new COPPA law seriously and seeking to understand how it could affect our channel and website. The people who created these vague rules are uptight and very conservative. FTC legislators clearly do not understand adult nerd and pop culture in 2020. They don’t believe that adults enjoy things like Marvel that could be deemed child friendly.
The wording of the law is based on very old fashioned, outdated beliefs in “child” appeal versus the culture of today. Even though we are adults many of the Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars movies also fall into the “child appealing” category. We could strongly argue that adults supported the Marvel movies in theaters more than kids. Kids don’t have the ability to drive themselves to theaters. Adults created the record breaking box office earnings by spending their discretionary income.
FTC employees who are extremely conservative in their personal views and out of touch with pop and nerd culture could deem the entire Disney platform for children only. This could get us in trouble if we review or mention any of the Disney Plus platform movies on our channel or website because of its “appeal” to children.
More alarming my home theater design is modern Mickey Mouse. We are adults but we still enjoy our visits to Walt Disney World. Anyone who has visited Disney Epcot theme park and walked around the Disney Parks knows plenty of liquor is severed at EPCOT. We have plush Mickeys in our home theater that some FTC employee might consider children’s toys, but we consider the plush room decorations due to our modern Mickey home theater design theme.
I also have Mickey shaped lamps, wall sconces, and pendants purchased from Ethan Allen that are clearly adult targeted. Because they have the shape of Mickey’s head does that qualify as “kid appealing”? Where does the FTC draw the line on Disney anything? Creating and posting a YouTube video tour of my modern Mickey themed home theater could be deemed kid appealing. We feel Disney’s brand and all of its media content, logos, symbols, movies, and icons are adult and kid appealing.
Another one of the FTC “child appealing” qualifications is “food that is appealing to children.” WTF this is so vague. Our home theater has a concession stand full of home theater candy, chips, popcorn, and soda. We also have liquor nearby. Would our home theater concession stand YouTube video qualify as “appealing to children” because it features candy, chips, and popcorn? The food is the exact same as sold in retail commercial theaters. Where is the line and how do we know when not to cross it? We don’t because the wording of the COPPA law is so vague.
A Reel Cinema @ Home doesn’t think COPPA will affect us daily because we don’t make content for children. Our home cinema videos are for adults. We don’t know of any children under 13 years old with the financial means or “child appealing interest” to purchase $7,000+, 7.2.4 surround sound speaker systems, $350 per home theater chairs, $2,000 home theater projector, or other very expensive components that make up a home cinema. Our YouTube videos feature cooking for grown up parties, entertainment, drinking alcohol, and fantastic adult conversation.
This is one of those moments we are grateful we don’t have to worry about kids appearing in our YouTube videos. Our home is a child free zone. More importantly, we don’t allow parents to bring children to our home cinema parties and events because of liquor and adult language/conversations.
One of the COPPA rules are the use of children in videos, we will ensure children are never shown in any of our home cinema YouTube videos. As of January 1, 2020, A Reel Cinema @ Home will not review any Disney, Pixar, Marvel, DC, cartoons, animated shows, movies with children as the main character, or anything else that could be deemed child appealing.
We will only review movies and television media that is clearly for adults: Rated R or Rated PG-13 without children as the main characters in the movie. We also will avoid reviewing any media that could be deemed child friendly such as family television shows with children and movies rated G. This eliminates most classic holiday movies like the Grinch (any of the three versions) and most holiday shows because if Santa is involved that’s an “appeal to children.”
Another example of how we might cross the fine FTC line without knowing it is Game of Thrones. At the beginning of the Game of Thrones seasons, the Stark children where young children and main characters in many of the episodes. Our question for the FTC because of the vague language, “Does Game of Thrones qualify as content that is child appealing because it features children in the show?” Again, where is the line?
As home theater and movie fans we see this as a huge deterrent to reviewing the Disney/Marvel movies we enjoy as nerdy adults. However, YouTube channel’s like Smash JT believe this could be a huge advantage to Disney. Smash JT believes Disney is behind the FTC changes on YouTube so they benefit the launch of Disney Plus. We want to make clear that A Reel Cinema @ Home has no proof of this but wanted to call out Smash JT’s belief that Disney might be the reason. I will link Smash JT’s video, “Is Disney Behind the FTC Using COPPA to Attack YouTube?”
Smash JT clearly states that Disney wants the free children content provided by YouTube removed so that parents will be forced to pay for Disney Plus content. We think Smash JT’s theory is interesting and enjoyed the video. Again, no facts are available to prove this is the case.
As a counter argument of what Smash JT believes, we as adults couldn’t wait to sign up for Disney Plus without one child living in our house. We are all adults but we still wanted to sign up for access to the Disney Plus content. The launch of Disney Plus does not prevent us from watching a ton of YouTube videos. Since the Disney Plus launched, we still watch YouTube Videos. We spend more hours on YouTube than we do Disney Plus.
A Reel Cinema @ Home is going to take extra measures to ensure we are constantly in compliance with COPPA. Our target audience is the grown and sexy crowd who are too old to party in a night club but love to entertain at home. Our YouTube content will feature adult football, boxing watch parties, Game of Thrones watch parties, election night result parties, and series binge watching parties in our home cinema.
Because the FTC COPPA rules are so vague, we are extremely serious about avoiding any movie or television media reviews that could be deemed child friendly. We will not feature any Disney Plus content AT ALL on our home cinema channel until COPPA provides examples of the “fine line.”
A Reel Cinema @ Home’s website and YouTube content is clearly not for kids. However, some uptight, conservative FTC employee might be having a bad day and decide to target our website and channel just because they can. We will remain on the safe side and wait to see how this entire law plays out in 2020. One thing for certain, the FTC is going to search for YouTube channels to make an example out of and to show their enforcement of the COPPA law against YouTube. We do not want to be one of those channels.
